Enterprise Drives Dell Revenues, Profits Higher

Dell reported substantially higher profits and slightly higher revenue for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2011. While revenue in its consumer business dropped off, its SMB business unit reached its highest level in two years.

Dell reported substantially higher profits and slightly higher revenue for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2011. While revenue in its consumer business dropped off, its SMB business unit reached its highest level in two years.

Dell reported net income of $927 million on revenue of $15.7 billion for the fourth quarter, a 177 percent increase in net income and a 5 percent jump in revenue, versus the same period a year ago. Dell also claimed that it had the highest operating income in five years, at $1.1 billion.

For the year, Dell reported $2.64 billion in net income on $61.5 billion in revenue, an 84 percent and 16 percent increase, respectively.

"I'm very pleased with our fiscal year results and the strong performance we're seeing in our commercial businesses. We remain focused on developing and acquiring new technologies and capabilities, and our IT solutions portfolio has never been stronger. Customers are now seeing Dell in a fresh light, and we're heading into the new year with strength and optimism."

Consumer revenue dropped 8 percent to $3.3 billion, weaker by comparison to the period last year in which Dell helped launch Windows 7.

Interestingly, different segments of Dell's business reported different levels of demand for PCs. In total, revenue from desktop PCs dropped 2 percent to $3.6 billion, while "mobility revenue" was flat at $4.85 billion.

Revenue from desktop and laptop computers grew 20 percent as the "strong client refresh among large corporate accounts continued," Dell reported for its enterprise segment. Servers and storage revenue grew 22 and 20 percent in the SMB segment, with desktop and mobile device revenue up 10 percent. But demand for desktops and notebooks dropped in the Public business unit, partially offset by server revenue growth.

On the whole, Dell's revenue continued to be driven by the combination of its enterprise and public sectors, which make up more than 50 percent of the company's revenue. Large Enterprise revenue grew 12 percent to $4.7 billion, while Public revenue increased 4 percent to $4 billion.

SMB revenue, meanwhile, reached its highest point in two years, at $3.7 billion, while the business unit reported another quarter of record profitability, with $450 million of operating income.

Mark Hachman Mark joined ExtremeTech in 2001 as the news editor, after rival CMP/United Media decided at the time that online news did not make sense in the new millennium.
Mark stumbled into his career after discovering that writing the great American novel did not pay a monthly salary, and that his other possible career choice, physics, required a degree of mathematical prowess that he sorely lacked.
Mark talked his way into a freelance assignment at CMP’s Electronic Buyers’ News, in 1995, where he wrote the...
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